Eggs, Chicks and Chocolate

The title pretty much sums up our Easter weekend. Although, perhaps chocolate should be in bold. I forget how much sweet is consumed on this holiday! The kids were up bright and early hunting for colored eggs and Easter baskets. Who knew that three children could devour over a dozen boiled eggs in one morning? We then headed for Biltmore Estate for another egg hunt and visit to the farm to see the baby animals.

art print by Marjan Van Zetl

Warmest Easter Greetings!

Lemony goodness

I have made four batches of these tasty scones in the last two days!! I had never made scones before, feeling somewhat intimidated by them. Man, I have been missing something good! It all started with a bag of organic lemons I found on sale at the grocery store. I was asked to make scones for Mia's classroom bake sale, and found this excellent recipe. I liked them so well that I made more for today's egg hunt potluck breakfast at Jen and Rich's. Yummmm.

So, without further ado, Here is the link to the recipe for Lemon Cream Scones. I love epicurious! Now I plan to make some yummy lemon curd with the extra lemon juice. Tangy and sweet, the perfect combination!

Preparing for Easter

Today we had fun bringing out the box of Easter decorations. It was fun remembering all of the special trinkets and where they came from. This vintage paper egg from Germany was a treasured thrift store find one year.

Last year's painted eggs

Here are some of my sketched eggs from last year. I borrowed images from Tasha Tudor's A Tale for Easter for inspiration. The duckling didn't survive the frenzy of unpacking the goods, poor thing.


A favorite Easter puzzle

a little wooly chick that I made years ago

I brought three dozen blown eggs into Vivi's classroom today, ready to decorate. The little egg blower tool is indispensable! I used a package of silver bead caps, tied on a silver embroidery floss, then hot glued the cap to the egg. This worked wonderfully for hanging the eggs. I brought Patricia Polacco's book Rechenka's Eggs to share with the children. What a beautiful story. Then the kids painted their own eggs. It was such fun to watch them make their special creations.

with gratitude for painted eggs and happy, creative children

Spring Awake!

After a day of feeling very miserable and low energy with a tiresome spring cold, I am waking up a bit and ready to enjoy some sunshine! I walked out of the house this morning in amazement to the working of nature. Since our early April showers, everything is beginning to look so vibrant. I absolutely love spring!

I send my heartfelt blessings to my mom who has a birthday today! Love you so much!

Vivienne's very own garden plot. Her radishes are coming up!

Mia tidying up the backyard play fort

My creative outlet for today - homemade Baklava. Came out a bit gooey, but sweet!

aren't these little sprouts the sweetest sight? Did I already tell you how much I love spring?

Flower Muse

We woke up to a beautiful spring morning. The kids ran out of the house straight away to collect little posies. I love the little wild violets and even the common dandelion, I have a fondness for. These pretty little blooms inspired me to work on my easter eggs. I plan to work on improving my easter crown (a wreath might better describe it). It is a family tradition from my mother's side, and I adopted it as my own last year. The eggs are strung by wire and hung from the ceiling with a ribbon.

If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.

~SIDDHARTHA BUDDHA

Making Spring

Yesterday the kids started to paint easter eggs. I am so glad that I bought one of these nifty egg blowers. This little tool makes it so much easier to get the egg out of the shell. We had a play date with some lovely new friends and the kids used watercolor paints to make their designs. I also found some Bic permanent markers in pastel colors which worked quite well.

After lots of egg blowing, I decided to make a quiche for dinner. This recipe was what I had on hand., and it turned out very tasty.

~Preheat oven at 425 degrees and bake whole wheat pie shell for 10 minutes (I used a healthy premade organic variety)

~Combine approximately 6 eggs, 1 cup cooked brown rice, 1 cup grated cheese (I used a colby/cheddar mix), about 1/2 cup chopped roasted red bell pepper, and 1 2/3 cup whole milk. Add a sprinkle of black pepper, a dash of sea salt, and a tsp of oregano (or other herb of choice).

~Reduce oven temp to 325 degrees. Set shell on cookie sheet and fill, then carefully place on the middle oven rack. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until center is somewhat firm (no liquid), but still a little jiggly.

I also got to visit Vivienne's classroom today for some spring crafting. It was such fun to see the kids excited about making things with me. I read Mother Earth and Her Children, based on Sybille Von Olfer's Story of the Root Children. It is an amazing book, the illustrations are photos of this gorgeous quilt inspired by the fairy tale. Vivi and I both still prefer the classic book for the translation, but each book has it's own beauty. We made butterflies out of wool roving, based on the project that I saw in the Spring '08 Living Crafts magazine. If you have not seen this magazine, I wholeheartedly recommend it. I have enjoyed every issue. I also brought some modelling beeswax to make other little critters and flowers, and the kids loved it. They enthusiastically warmed the wax in their hands and made all sorts of delightful creations. It was such fun to watch them play with these gifts of nature. I feel so grateful for being able to share my love of handwork with these darling children!

~these were my samples that I shared with the class. Now the branches are filled with cheery wool butterflies in the classroom.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.

LAO TZU